Explore the vast range of titles available.

The aim of this study was to provide insight into the real-life clinical presentation and outcomes of the elderly presenting with acute myocardial infarction from the Turkish Myocardial Infarction registry database. TURKMI was a nationwide, multicenter, observational, 15-day snapshot registry conducted to address the management of acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to percutaneous intervention-capable hospitals. The present analysis included the comparison of consecutively enrolled acute myocardial infarction patients aged ≥75 and <75 years. Of the overall 1930 patients, 362 patients were aged ≥75 years. Elderly patients were more likely to have hypertension and renal failure and less likely to have hypercholesterolemia. Elderly patients were admitted to hospitals almost 1 hour later mainly due to a late call to emergency medical service. At discharge, medical therapies were significantly less prescribed to the elderly. The proportion of patients undergoing coronary angiography was significantly lower in elderly (81.8% vs. 96.4%, P < .001). Both in-hospital and 1-year mortality were significantly higher in elderly patients (9.1% vs. 2.7% and 22.7% vs. 5.8%, P < .001 respectively). The adjusted risk of 1-year mortality was 4-fold in elderly (hazard ratio and 95% CI 4.0 [2.9-5.6], P < .001). In multivariate analysis, every 5-beat/min increase in heart rate increased mortality by 7%. Higher heart rate and use of antiplatelet agents on admission were predictors of mortality in elderly. In real-life settings, elderly patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction are prone to prolonged total ischemic time and are subjected to less-intensive medical treatment and interventional approaches. Besides age, the increased heart rate could be the major determinant of mortality.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no up-to-date information regarding the presentation, management, and clinical course of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) in Turkey. The TURKMI registry is designed to provide an insight into the characteristics, management from the symptoms onset to the hospital discharge, and outcome of patients with acute MI in Turkey. The TURKMI study, as a nationwide registry, will be conducted in 50 percutaneous coronary intervention-capable centers, selected from each EuroStat NUTS region in Turkey according to their population sampling weight, prioritizing the hospital volume in each region. All consecutive patients with acute MI admitted to the coronary care units within the 48 hours of the symptoms onset will be prospectively enrolled during a predefined 2-week period. The first step of the study has a cross-sectional design in which baseline information such as symptoms, risk factors, time periods at each step from the symptoms onset to revascularization, way of arrival to hospital, biochemical analysis, and in-hospital management and outcome will be assessed. The second step has a cohort characteristic in which the enrolled patients will be followed-up up to 2 years. Follow-up visits will be conducted at the 1st, 6th, 12th, and 24th month, and predictors and risk of cardiovascular events and implementation of guidelines will be assessed as secondary outcomes. The national TURKMI registry is expected to provide important information to improve the national policy regarding diagnosing, management, and outcomes of MI in Turkey.

In this study, we aimed to analyze the TURKMI registry to identify the factors associated with delays from symptom onset to treatment that would be the focus of improvement efforts in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Turkey. The TURKMI study is a nation-wide registry that was conducted in 50 centers capable of 24/7 primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). All consecutive patients (n=1930) with AMI admitted to coronary care units within 48 hours of symptom onset were prospectively enrolled during a predefined 2-week period between November 1, 2018, and November 16, 2018. All the patients were examined in detail with regard to the time elapsed at each step from symptom onset to initiation of treatment, including door-to-balloon time (D2B) and total ischemic time (TIT). After excluding patients who suffered an AMI within the hospital (2.6%), the analysis was conducted for 1879 patients. Most of the patients (49.5%) arrived by self-transport, 11.8% by emergency medical service (EMS) ambulance, and 38.6% were transferred from another EMS without PCI capability. The median time delay from symptom-onset to EMS call was 52.5 (15-180) min and from EMS call to EMS arrival 15 (10-20) min. In ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the median D2B time was 36.5 (25-63) min, and median TIT was 195 (115-330) min. TIT was significantly prolonged from 151 (90-285) min to 250 (165-372) min in patients transferred from non-PCI centers. The major significant factors associated with time delay were patient-related delay and the mode of hospital arrival, both in STEMI and non-STEMI. The baseline evaluation of the TURKMI study revealed that an important proportion of patients presenting with AMI within 48 hours of symptom onset reach the PCI treatment center later than the time proposed in the guidelines, and the use of EMS for admission to hospital is extremely low in Turkey. Patient-related factors and the mode of hospital admission were the major factors associated with the time delay to treatment.

The aim of the study was to evaluate left atrial (LA) mechanical functions in MS before and after percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) and to follow it up in short- and mid-term. We carried out a prospective study of 49 patients with critical mitral stenosis (MS) who had normal sinus rhythm. LA mechanical functions were evaluated before and 24-48 h, 3 months, and 1 year after PMBV, which included LA passive emptying volume (LAPEV), LA active emptying volume (LAAEV), LA total emptying volume (LATEV), LA passive emptying fraction (LAPEF), LA active emptying fraction (LAAEF), LA total emptying fraction (LATEF), and conduit volume. The transthoracic echocardiography parameters of the MS patients before and 24-48 h, 3 months, and 1 year after PMBV were as follows: (a) mitral valve area 1.1 cm² (0.9-1.6); 2.2 cm² (1.8-2.8) (p<0.001); 2.2 cm² (1.7-2.9) (NS); 2.1 cm² (1.8-2.7) (p<0.001); (b) LAPEV 13 ml/m² (9-27); 11 ml/m² (8-19) (p<0.001); 10 ml/m² (7-19) (p<0.001); 10 ml/m² (6-18) (p<0.001); (c) LATEV 26 ml/m² (19-50); 21 ml/m² (16-40) (p<0.001); 20 ml/m² (15-36) (p<0.001); 19 ml/m² (15-34) (p<0.001); (d) Conduit volume 30 ml/m² (22-44); 33 ml/m² (26-46) (p<0.001); 34 ml/m² (30-42) (p<0.001); 36 ml/m² (31-42) (p<0.001), respectively. However, LAAEV, LAPEF, LAAEF, and LATEF were not altered after PMBV. The findings of this study demonstrated an improvement of LA mechanical functions, which continued to improve for 1 year, after successful treatment of MS by PMBV.

Spontaneous coronary artery rupture is rarely seen and most of the reorted cases in the world literature are related to rupture of a coronary artery aneurysm or of a saphenous vein graft. There is no report in the literature of a patient with spontaneous coronary artery perforation due to disruption of coronary atherosclerotic plaque. We can confirm that our patient is the first to be successfully treated with intracoronary grafted stent implantation for spontaneous coronary artery perforation as a result of disruption of atherosclerotic plaque.

It is known that the heart of an athlete has been physiologically adapted by prolonged training. There are a large number of echocardiographic studies which have focused on left ventricular wall thickness and dilatation, but there are few studies concerning right heart function in the athlete's heart. The aim of this study was to assess right heart function in elite athletes by conventional and new echocardiographic methods. The study population consisted of 36 elite highly-trained male athletes and 16 age-matched healthy sedentary controls. Right atrial, right ventricular, and inferior vena cava dimensions, and pulsed Doppler measurements of tricuspid inflow and right ventricular outflow were obtained, and systolic (preejection period, ejection time, preejection time/ejection time, QV peak, isovolumic contraction time) and diastolic (E peak, A peak, E/A ratio, decelaration time, isovolumic relexation time) function parameters were measured. The myocardial performance index was calculated as (isovolumetric contraction time + isovolumetric relaxation time)/ejection time. In addition, right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions were determined by Pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging (S, E, and A velocities) at the lateral corners of the tricuspid annulus. The left ventricular mass index (P < 0.005), and right atrial (P < 0.001), right ventricular (P < 0.001), and inferior vena cava dimensions (P < 0.001) were significantly greater in athletes than in controls. Tricuspid E peak, A peak, E/A ratio, deceleration time, isovolumic relaxation time, preejection period, right ventricular ejection time, preejection time/ejection time, isovolumic contraction time, QV peak, and myocardial performance index were found to be similar in athletes and in controls (P > 0.05). Systolic, early diastolic, and late diastolic tissue Doppler imaging velocities were not significantly different in athletes and controls (P > 0.05). Left ventricular hypertrophy (LV mass index >134 g/m2) was found in 15 of the athletes. Right atrial dimension was greater in the athletes with left ventricular hypertrophy than in those without hypertrophy (P < 0.05). All right ventricular systolic and diastolic echocardiographic parameters were similar in athletes with and without left ventricular hypertrophy (P > 0.05). The results of this study indicate that right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions do not deteriorate in the athlete's heart despite significant chamber dilatation. They suggest that these changes are a normal physiologic adaptation to prolonged training.

Objectives: Cardiovascular surgery advancements have emerged with various minimally invasive approaches for treating multivessel coronary disease to improve outcomes and minimize the burden associated with conventional cardiac surgery. We present our clinical experience and minimally invasive coronary bypass techniques through minithoracotomy, which we apply without selection to patients who have decided to have elective surgery for multivessel isolated coronary artery disease. Methods: It consists of 230 consecutive patients operated by the same team with this method between July 2020 and September 2022. The patients were assigned to one of the two methods preoperatively to their accompanying comorbidities and operated on either with blood cardioplegia via 5 to 7 cm left anterior minithoracotomy, with on-pump clamped technique or without pump via left anterolateral minithoracotomy. Results: Mortality was observed in two of our patients (0.9%), but myocardial infarction was not observed in our patients in the early postoperative period. None of our patients required conversion to sternotomy (0%). Five patients’ needed reoperation from the same incision due to postoperative bleeding (2.2%), and atrial fibrillation developed in 17 patients in the postoperative period (7.4%). The mean number of bypasses was found to be 3.0 ± 0.9. Conclusions: Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery via minithoracotomy can be routinely reproduced safely. More long-term results and more multicenter studies are needed for more widespread acceptance of the technique.

Delayed admission of myocardial infarction (MI) patients is an important prognostic factor. In the present nationwide registry (TURKMI-2), we evaluated the treatment delays and outcomes of patients with acute MI during the Covid-19 pandemic and compaired with a recentpre-pandemic registry (TURKMI-1). The pandemic and pre-pandemic studies were conducted prospectively as 15-day snapshot registries in the same 48 centers. The inclusion criteria for both registries were aged ≥18 years and a final diagnosis of acute MI (AMI) with positive troponin levels. The only difference between the 2 registries was that the pre-pandemic (TURKMI-1) registry (n=1872) included only patients presenting within the first 48 hours after symptom-onset. TURKMI-2 enrolled all consecutive patients (n=1113) presenting with AMI during the pandemic period. A comparison of the patients with acute MI presenting within the 48-hour of symptom-onset in the pre-pandemic and pandemic registries revealed an overall 47.1% decrease in acute MI admissions during the pandemic. Median time from symptom-onset to hospital-arrival increased from 150 min to 185 min in patients with ST elevation MI (STEMI) and 295 min to 419 min in patients presenting with non-STEMI (NSTEMI) (p-values <0.001). Door-to-balloon time was similar in the two periods (37 vs. 40 min, p=0.448). In the pandemic period, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) decreased, especially in the NSTEMI group (60.3% vs. 47.4% in NSTEMI, p<0.001; 94.8% vs. 91.1% in STEMI, p=0.013) but the decrease was not significant in STEMI patients admitted within 12 hours of symptom-onset (94.9% vs. 92.1%; p=0.075). In-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were significantly increased during the pandemic period [4.8% vs. 8.9%; p<0.001; age- and sex-adjusted Odds ratio (95% CI) 1.96 (1.20-3.22) for NSTEMI, p=0.007; and 2.08 (1.38-3.13) for STEMI, p<0.001]. The present comparison of 2 nationwide registries showed a significant delay in treatment of patients presenting with acute MI during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although PCI was performed in a timely fashion, an increase in treatment delay might be responsible for the increased risk of MACE. Public education and establishing COVID-free hospitals are necessary to overcome patients' fear of using healthcare services and mitigate the potential complications of AMI during the pandemic. (Anatol J Cardiol 2020; 24: 334-42).

This study was planned to assess whether tissue Doppler imaging is a useful method for the detection of the right ventricular myocardial infarction. Forty-eight patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction and 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in this study. Twenty-four patients had electrocardiographic signs of inferior myocardial infarction without right ventricular infarction (group I), and the other 24 patients had electrocardiographic signs of inferior myocardial infarction with right ventricular infarction (group II). From the echocardiographic apical four-chamber view, peak systolic, early diastolic, and late diastolic velocities of the tricuspid annulus at the right ventricular free wall were recorded with the use of pulsed-wave Doppler tissue imaging. The tricuspid annular peak tissue Doppler imaging systolic velocity was significantly lower in group I (14.03 +/- 2.57 cm/s, P << 0.005) and in group II (8.50 +/- 0.84 cm/s, P << 0.005) than in controls (16.63 +/- 2.31 cm/s). The tricuspid annular peak systolic (8.50 +/- 0.84 cm/s vs 16.63 +/- 2.31 cm/s) and peak early diastolic (10.99 +/- 3.28 cm/s vs 19.39 +/- 4.3 cm/s) velocities were significantly lower in group II than in group I, as compared with controls ( P << 0.001). Peak early diastolic velocity of tricuspid annulus (10.99 +/- 3.28 cm/s vs 19.39 +/- 4.3 cm/s) was significantly lower in group I than in controls ( P << 0.001); however, late diastolic velocity was significantly lower in group II (15.98 +/- 5.08 cm/s, P << 0.05) than in group I (18.21 +/- 2.63 cm/s, P << 0.05) and in controls (19.02 +/- 5.29 cm/s). The results of this study indicate that tricuspid annular peak systolic and early diastolic velocities are reduced in patients with right ventricular infarction. The velocity of the tricuspid annulus by tissue Doppler imaging is simple and can be used to distinguish whether patients with inferior myocardial infarction have right ventricular infarction.